Helion Automotive Technologies

Erik NachbahrCEO

WELL-RUN AND ACCOUNTABLE

Helion Automotive Technologies provides managed IT services for auto and heavy truck dealerships. “Auto dealerships in the last 20 years have been going through a significant transformation from being very decentralized and not using their data in any meaningful way … to being very high-tech business operations,” says CEO Erik Nachbahr. “Because we’ve been in the auto industry for so many years and we know all of the cycles, we’ve been able to really respond to their needs.”

Quick Tip:“True leaders inspire other people … and that inspiration is all about being able to really effectively push down and communicate a vision of what things will be like.”

In leading Helion, one major learning experience for Nachbahr was to always hold employees accountable for performance. “I always made the mistake of judging people based on their potential or based on their capabilities,” he says. “And that would blind me to what they actually were able to produce. … You have to have very clear goals and very clear measurements for every individual person.” Because technology changes rapidly, Helion will also have to remain nimble as it moves into the future, Nachbahr notes. That’s why his number-one goal is for the company to be “well-run.” “As we continue to grow, I want the company to be a place where our clients are satisfied and feel like we … provide a great product and service to them.”